The Whole Thing

“What are you talking about?” Ferris demands. I close the door behind me and reach into my pocket. There’s nothing in there but cigarettes and my cellphone. I reach for one but come out with the other. I light up a cigarette. “The Book. I’m going to guess it’s somewhere nicely tucked in that suitcase. And it’s not on the way back to the Paladins of Light either. You’re taking it back to your own people. To the Werewolves,” I say hotly. Ferris’ eyes narrow but she’s still puffing away without a shake. I smoke back at her. “But first you needed alibis. You needed the blame to fall squarely on the very vampires you were going to start killing yourself. Even now, Malvolio and Sunshine are getting a firsthand experience with being dead. It’d be a two-front war for them, the Enlightenment and the Guild of Nod tearing away while the Paladins pick off the survivors. All still hunting for the Book. You convinced Dingo to take the Book and tell them they just need copies so they’ll give it back. Give the Book to your own kind and you’ve got a perfect war for the wolves. Except for one tiny detail. You got spotted red handed. Things got tricky for the deal, didn’t it? After they found out copies of the book wouldn’t work, suddenly Dingo didn’t want to just hand it over like before. He went out the back door, and you walked over to meet him in the alley. And the kid spotted you. He followed you down that alley, texted me for help, and then stepped in. He had to get that book back. That’s when things got messy. Because since he’d seen you with Dingo, he had to go. In the struggle he manages to get the box, Dingo gets the book, and suddenly you’ve got a lot more explaining to do. So you cuddle up with me and keep things moving along until I find it,” I say. I have to suck in a breath, I’ve been shouting so much. Her hands are shaking a little bit now. “Shade…I didn’t want to hurt him. Or you. By Fenrir…I even asked you to come with me! To leave this place! It’s not like I can go back to being a werewolf! But I have to help my people!” she shouts. The cigarette falls from her hand like the confession from her lips, both sitting on the floor in front of us. “We can just say the Book was always a fake, that the real one is still out there somewhere. Please Shade, lets just do this together,” she pleads. I found myself wishing that we could.